Aliit (Family)
by CelestialHeavens1
Summary: Anakin is woken in the middle of the night by Longshot with some concerns of the fate of Boba Fett. AU What If that takes place before TCW and ROTS but after AOTC.
1. Aliit Ori'shya Tal'din

Aliit Ori'shya Tal'din

"Family is more than blood."

Mandalorian Proverb

* * *

Part 1

It was still during the dark hours when Anakin was woken up by one of Obi-Wan's clone troopers. He was still technically a padawan and hadn't been given a command of his own yet, so the troopers didn't consider him "theirs," not the way they considered Obi-Wan theirs. But this clone, Longshot, was staring at him expectantly. He hadn't gone to Obi-Wan with whatever was bothering him. For some reason, that made him feel really warm inside.

"Yes?" he muttered, still half asleep, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes and flinching when he met with the cold metal of his now-artificial hand.

"Sir, I know it's not my place, but-" the clone cut himself off, nervous.

"Whatever it is, tell me," he urged.

"The Fett's kid. A detachment of brothers found him. They're sending him to an orphanage on Bespin. I know I shouldn't be saying anything, but the Fett was kind to me. I was having trouble with targeting and he showed me how. I'd hate to see the kid be abandoned like that."

Anakin nodded. "Bespin, you said?" he asked, pulling his boots on. "Mind prepping a shuttle?"

"Sir?"

"We should get to Bespin. The Republic made him an orphan. The Republic is going to take responsibility for that."

Longshot frowned. He obviously hadn't expected him to react like that, but how was he supposed to react? He had been so recently orphaned himself that the pain was still so fresh. If anyone could understand how the kid felt, he could.

"I have shore leave. I'm due to head back to Coruscant tomorrow. I'm just going to detour a bit before then." Anakin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You wouldn't have said anything if you didn't want me to do something about the kid."

The trooper nodded and stood at attention. "Sir, I can't leave. But I'll go prep that shuttle and let the General know."

Anakin winced. Obi-Wan would probably not let him go. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, in this case. "Give me a head start before you tell him?"

Longshot hesitated. Anakin wasn't his general and yet was asking this of him. Finally, his desire to help the Fett kid won out and he nodded. "Sir, yes, sir."

He left and Anakin packed only the bare minimal. He hated to take more than necessary otherwise it might tip his master off as to what happened. He left as quickly as he could, before more of the crew woke up.

* * *

The orphanage on Bespin wasn't much better than his conditions were as a kid. But at least he had had his own room. The Fett boy, Boba, the headbeing of the orphanage had said the kid's name was, was curled up on one of the durasteel bed frames, knees to his chest. He looked angry beyond belief and Anakin knew exactly how he felt.

He stood at the end of the bed, looking at the kid. The kid looked back up at him, a dark glare coming across his face as he took in the lightsaber on Anakin's hip.

"What do you want, _jetii_?" He spat, like he was cursing at him. Anakin didn't flinch.

"I take it you've vowed revenge then?" He kept his tone soft, light.

The kid made a sound, something that sounded like a bitter laugh. "What would the Jedi know about revenge?" he scoffed.

Anakin sat down. "The Jedi? Not much. Personally though, I know quite a bit."

The kid blinked. He clearly hadn't been expecting that. He lost a little of the fight in him, and Anakin took that at a small victory and continued.

"I know you're angry and you have every right to be. I won't try to talk you out of taking revenge for your father's murder." The kid gave him a broken look that looked a little too much like awe. Like the minute he had seen Anakin, he had expected him to deny him the right to his emotions. Like he'd deny what Mace Windu had done to his father was something other than murder. Or worse, blame Jango Fett for his death.

"Then why are you here?" he asked, and this time, he actually sounded like a kid. A lost, scared kid who was all alone in the galaxy.

"Because you need somewhere to go. There might be a war, but that doesn't mean that our actions don't have consequences. The others need to see that." He gave Boba a smile. "And I know somewhere that's got comfortable beds and warm food every day. The company's not bad either. And if things go really bad, you might get to shoot someone." Boba grinned at that.

* * *

Padmé Amidala stared at the ten-year-old who was currently playing with R2 and shrieking in laughter. She turned back to her guilty-looking husband who was trying to appear as innocent as possible. As if he hadn't dragged Jango Fett's son halfway across the galaxy to her apartment on Coruscant. As if he wasn't trying to talk her into adopting him.

Not that she hadn't already decided she would the second Anakin had started explaining that he had no where to go and no family. And he was almost identical to the other clones, which meant he was pretty cute. Still, it didn't mean she couldn't make her husband sweat a little.

"Ani-" she sighed, cutting herself off. She really, really wanted to be mad, but she was having a hard time doing so when he was looking at her like a kicked puppy. She just wished he had discussed this with her before they had arrived on her veranda. "What exactly am I supposed to do with him while I'm at work?"

"He can take care of himself. He's really a good kid."

The boy joined in from across the room. "I can cook and clean and I'm a really good shot. Anakin told me you get into danger a lot and I could be your bodyguard. Nobody ever expects a kid to be a bodyguard."

"He really just needs a home and people to love him. And you were the one telling me about how you feel like you need to do more to help the war victims."

Padmé sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose to fight of the oncoming headache. "I didn't mean adopting a child. Stars Anakin! He said it himself. I'm constantly in danger. You're constantly in danger. What if something happened to us? Then what?"

Because she couldn't think what would happen to this sweet little boy if he grew to love them and lost them both the way he had his father. She remembered the murder in Anakin's eyes, even after had had killed the ones who had slaughtered his mother. She couldn't help but think that he had been holding back and Boba wouldn't.

Boba was staring at her. It was unnerving how despite not being related to Anakin, he had perfected him mimicking of Anakin's pleading look. "If I'm with you, nobody'll hurt you!" he declared.

She glared at her husband. This was so his fault.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. If you'll excuse me, I have to go tell Threepio to set the table for three."

She stood and swept out of the room and pretended not to hear Anakin say, "She likes you."

"Does that mean I can stay?" Boba asked him, but she didn't hear his response. Instead, she informed Threepio that they needed a third place setting and that the spare bedroom needed to be cleaned up for a child to stay.

"And you both better wash your hands!" she shouted back towards the other room where her family was.

* * *

AN: I couldn't help but think what would have happened if Anakin had convinced Padmé they should adopt Boba? Would it have made a difference? Would it had stopped Anakin from turning or would Boba have gone out and sought revenge for his adopted parents along with the murder of his father?

And I'd like to think that then he definitely wouldn't have helped Vader get Luke, especially if he had gotten the Obi-Wan reasoning of Vader killed Anakin. Because if he wasn't afraid of attacking Jedi and wasn't scared of working with a Sith, I figure he probably wouldn't have been too afraid of going after Vader for killing Anakin and Padmé.

But then again, I can't see him letting Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail separate Luke and Leia. He totally would have abducted his little brother and sister and stolen a shuttle and disappeared. He wouldn't have denied them their heritage and would have made a great living bounty hunting and teaching the two of them how to as well. Until one day Leia decides she wants to be a revolutionary and Luke goes along with it because the Rebels will let him fly his own ship. And Boba would join the Rebels just because he can't trust his vods to keep themselves out of trouble.

Or maybe Boba would have hit Anakin over the head in Episode III and said "Snap out of it! The Chancellor is evil!" And he would have woken up with a headache and been like "Why did Palpatine go and tell me my name is Vader? I don't want to be on the American Film Institute's list as 3rd greatest movie villain in film history, especially not behind behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates." And then he would have not gone and murdered a bunch of Jedi and younglings and choked his wife.

Who knows? I haven't decided whether to continue this on or not. Would anyone be interested if I did? And which version? Or both versions?


	2. Ni Kyr'tal Gai Sa'ad Part 1

Ni Kyr'tal Gai Sa'ad

"I know your name as my child."

The Mandalorian Adoption Vow

* * *

Part 2 - Chapter 1

It was strange having a child around. At the Temple, Anakin had been banned from the crèche by the crèche masters after he had gotten way too attached to a couple of the younglings. Rather than let him work through his attachment issues, it was better to cut it off completely, so it'd be like an old wound that never healed.

Like his mother.

He resented that the Council had banned him from speaking to her. He hated that the Masters had told Padmé not to worry about her ten years before when she had asked after Master Qui-Gon's funeral. He was angry that they had made it sound like they would free her to Padmé, rather than tell her the truth. She had been surprised to find out that his mother had still been enslaved until Cliegg Lars had freed her.

"Hey!" Boba yelled at him. "You've got to use the controller to shift! You can't just run into walls."

He had no idea where Padmé had found the hologame at such short notice. It had appeared after dinner the first night as if by magic, so probably one of her handmaidens had gotten it or maybe Threepio. Since they had arrived on Coruscant, Boba had become slightly addicted to the game.

But Padmé had firmly set the rule that he could only play the game after lunch and before dinner and that he had to do other stuff before he could play. When they, or rather she, enrolled him in school, he wouldn't be allowed to play it before his homework was done. It was probably going to be one of the holoschools that she had been researching. Something about good reviews and highly individualized attention. The kid had moped slightly at that and then went back to kicking Anakin's ass in the game.

They had also discussed how she was going to publicly adopt Boba. He was a war orphan, who's father had been killed by the Jedi. Boba was quick to point out that if she called him a war orphan, her popularity in the Senate might go up. They had spent another hour trying to reassure him that they weren't adopting him to better Padmé's political career. Though after the announcement, three Senators who had been strictly absolutists were now supporting legislative proposals that Padmé had written in concerns to the people on the planets most affected by the war.

Padmé was curled on the shorter sofa, watching them with an amused look on her face rather than working on the datapad filled with notes for the next day. She had that look a lot lately. It was contentment, he liked to think. There was so little to be happy about since the war had started and she was so stressed with work that it was nice to see her content.

He tried to shift, but the controller wasn't sensitive enough. The podracer crashed again. "Karking poodoo!"

"Anakin!" Padmé scolded and then glanced towards Boba.

"That's okay," the boy said, not moving his eyes from the game. "I've heard worse. My dad used to bring me to Tatooine and Nal Hutta sometimes."

Padmé didn't seem like she was thrilled with that idea. She had already become hopelessly attached to the boy. Their boy.

Their son.

It seemed strange to think of Boba that way. He was still kind of getting used to thinking of Padmé as his wife. But it was almost a comforting thought, that if something were to happen to him, if he was to leave the Jedi, he had a family to return to.

"Flying the real thing is better," he grumbled, trying to shift after the game reset. He was reacting before the obstacles showed on the screen and it kept causing the system to crash.

Boba's racer crossed the finish line and he turned to Anakin, eyes wide. "You've podraced? I thought it was illegal."

"Not out in Hutt Space. I won the Boonta Eve Classic when I was nine." Padmé made an amused sound, but Boba was staring at him with that awed look he had at the orphanage.

"No way! My dad always said humans couldn't podrace. Something about reflexes and limbs." He crossed his arms and pouted. "I guess he was just saying that so I wouldn't do it."

Anakin was sure the look his wife was giving him translated into she was going to murder him if he gave the ten-year-old any more dangerous ideas. It was bad enough telling him he could be her bodyguard and had given him a blaster. But podracing…

"Uh…" he started, not sure how to fix that.

" _I die a little more inside every time I have to watch you race, Ani,"_ his mother's voice echoed in his ears. She said it before every race, but he could remember the way she had said it after he had crashed Watts's racer. Terrified at how she might have lost him. Just because he had tried to save the pod.

He hadn't understood the fear at the time. But there was something in him that clenched tightly at the thought of Boba jumping on a podracer and crashing the way he had. Everyone said he was lucky to have walked away.

"Yeah. He was right about that," he finished lamely.

Padmé was wincing, eyes shut like it was a disaster she just couldn't watch.

"But you did it!" Boba insisted. "And you were nine! I'm ten. I'm practically an adult. When the rest of the clones are ten, they get shipped off to the front."

He and Padmé exchanged glances. They heard about the accelerated aging, but there was something very wrong about using people in battle who were only about the age of the boy sitting next to him.

"The clones on the front are only ten?"

"Don't try and change the subject. I want to podrace!"

Anakin put his arm around his son's shoulders, bringing him close. "Well, it really isn't something humans can do."

"But you did it!"

"But I'm only half human." It was something that he barely acknowledged. It had been confirmed when he had first entered the Temple, but he had asked the Healers to take it off any of his files that it wasn't completely necessary. Like he needed another reason to be singled out by other Initiates at the time and all personal files in the Temple were public.

That sated Boba slightly, enough to drop the subject of podracing. Of course, it did get another topic going. "What's your other half?"

Anakin groaned.

* * *

He probably should have expected that he'd be missed sooner or later. Sooner came in the form of a comm call from Obi-Wan, two days into his leave. The man had his arms crossed and was glaring from the other end of the holo.

"Any particular reason why Longshot has been covering for you?"

He stayed silent. He didn't want to get the clone in trouble.

"Anakin," the tone was warning. "Where exactly have you been for the last three days?"

"Technically, the last two I've been on leave and I wasn't ordered to report to the Temple, so-"

He cut himself short as Obi-Wan continued to glare at him, arms crossed tighter, looking highly disappointed.

"And the day before that?"

"A rescue mission. Intel brought it up. I thought you assigned it to me." There. That was vague enough. From Obi-Wan's look, the other man knew it was a lie.

His master gave up finally and sighed. "I hope whatever it was was worth it."

He glanced past the holotable to where his son was currently losing to his wife at dejarik. He also didn't seem to realize that she was about to beat him.

"It was. It definitely was."

Obi-Wan frowned, then nodded. "I'll be back on Coruscant tomorrow. I expect you to be there as well."

His master hung up and Anakin stood, stretching. He moved over to sit behind Padmé, wrapping his arms around his wife and kissed her neck. Boba made a face, but otherwise stayed quiet.

"Anything important?" she asked.

"He wanted to know where I was." It felt a bit like he wasn't trusted to go off on his own. But he was just a padawan and orders were orders. Still, it sat bitterly in his gut, especially the look of disappointment that his master had perfected so well just for him.

Padmé gave him a pointed look. She was waiting for him to continue. He sighed.

"I didn't tell him anything."

"Why not?" That came from Boba.

"Because Jedi aren't supposed to get married or have families."

"That's stupid. ' _Jetiise cuyir di'kute,'_ " he muttered. "That's what my dad always used to say. I think he was right."

He wasn't sure what Boba had said, but he was sure it wasn't positive. He exchanged a glance with Padmé. They were going to have to learn Mando'a, just so they could reprimand Boba when he said something he shouldn't in a language they didn't understand.

"Your move," Boba said.

Padmé sighed and moved a piece. He frowned when he realized he was going to lose no matter what he did. Anakin chuckled at the look on the kid's face.

"That's why I never play dejarik with a politician," he told the boy as seriously as he could. Padmé shoved at his shoulder, giving him a playful glare. He nudged her back. "Come on. I think I saw there were some good holomovies on the net."

It was nice, more peaceful than the Jedi Temple was now. Boba was sitting on one side of the couch, but for someone as small as he was, he had managed to take up nearly the entire thing. Padmé was curled into his other side, head on his shoulder with his arm around her.

 _This right here, this must be what peace feels like_ , Anakin thought, feeling more content than he could remember feeling in a long time.

* * *

Part one of two. Hurricane prepping here. Needed something to take my mind off of it.


	3. Ni Kyr'tal Gai Sa'ad Part 2

Part 2 - Chapter 2

It was a loud, obnoxious knocking on the apartment door that woke Anakin the next morning. It might have been later than morning, considering daylight was streaming in at full blast and Padmé was absent from her spot beside him. His right shoulder had also lost feeling, because Boba had decided at some point that it was the perfect spot for his left foot to go. He was sure the kid wouldn't be happy when he woke up with that kink in his neck.

"Master Kenobi!" he heard Threepio's voice exclaim, "Mistress Padmé is not in right now, but I could-"

Anakin jolted up. It was only sheer luck that from his spot on the couch he was obscured from the front door. He was probably not supposed to be sleeping in senators' apartments, especially not with dead bounty hunters' kids sleeping halfway on top of him.

"Yes, thank you," his master's voice came and he debated how bad it would be if he jumped out of the window. "I'm actually here to see Anakin."

"Oh yes, of course. Master Ani. He's right this way, sir."

Anakin closed his eyes. He was going to disassemble Threepio and sell him for scrap.

"I know you're awake," Obi-Wan said in his 'Anakin, I'm annoyed with you' voice.

Anakin breathed out and opened his eyes slowly. "Perhaps we should speak outside," he said, glancing at his sleeping son.

He led Obi-Wan to the balcony with a familiarity he was sure his master noted. He seemed displeased and Anakin wasn't surprised by that. After all, this confirmed that when Obi-Wan had told Anakin to break off any relationship with Senator Amidala after Geonosis, he had lied afterwards by saying he had.

He closed the doors behind them, hoping to muffle their conversation from waking Boba. "I take it you and the Senator are still engaging in a relationship." He stayed silent. What could he honestly say in this situation? He hadn't planned for it, had expected to be back at the Temple before Obi-Wan came looking for him. He hadn't actually expected the man to notice he was missing from the Temple and search for where he was.

"And if I said I was just babysitting?" Anakin finally replied, though he was sure his words rang untrue in the Force.

"You, who doesn't like children, is babysitting?" He didn't correct the older man. He would not get into that one. "You flinch every time any Initiate comes up to us, but the minute it's for Senate Amidala, you are prepared to skip out of your responsibilities."

Anakin gritted his teeth. "The Republic killed his father and then abandoned him. I'm sorry I left a day early, but I wasn't going to leave him there. Or are the sins of the father supposed to be passed down to the child? Should I have left Boba to starve and grow to hate the Republic and not trust anyone ever again? And so what if I knew that Senator Amidala was perhaps the only other person in the entire galaxy who cared what happened to him?" He crossed his arms over his chest. "Didn't we have a responsibility to him, after Geonosis?"

Obi-Wan frowned. "He fought against us there and on Kamino. That makes him a Separatist. Our enemy," the other man reminded as if Anakin could forget who the Separatists were.

"He's a child!" He countered, "One who hasn't exactly seen any of the good the Republic has done. He grew up on the Outer Rim, watching the worlds the Republic forgot. That'll shape anyone's view as to why the Republic and the Order might possibly be the bad guys. I'm sure watching Master Windu behead his father didn't help."

He didn't mention his own childish hopes he had clung to upon seeing Master Qui-Gon with his lightsaber that first time and the crushing disappointment that followed learning that the Jedi didn't care about the slaves of Tatooine. The Republic didn't care either. He could imagine how it was for Boba. He might not have outright called the clones his family, but the rest of the clones called each other brother. The Republic bred his family to fight in a war for a government under which they had no rights, weren't even considered sentient beings. Boba wasn't considered a sentient.

He hadn't been considered sentient when he had been a slave. It wasn't a far jump in his mind to call the clones slaves. He felt vaguely ill at the thought. He was willing working for slavers.

"Mace was doing what needed to be done."

"Was it though?" His voice was quiet when he spoke. He wasn't entirely sure his master heard him. He made no acknowledgement of his words.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were going to do?" Obi-Wan asked him, his voice just as soft.

How could he have told him? Perfect Obi-Wan, the Council's golden boy. Anakin knew what his answer would have been before Longshot had even spoken up about going after Boba.

Anakin raised an eyebrow and glanced at his master. "And give you the chance to say no?" Anakin sighed, running his hands through his hair as he looked out across Coruscant. The traffic was heavy, as it always was at that time of day. It wasn't even lunch time yet, but so many people took an early lunch. "Any time I've said something about helping someone who needed it, someone who wasn't part of whatever mission we were on, you told me that I need to let go, the dreams will pass, ignore my instincts, ignore the Force screaming in my head-" Anakin cut off and turned away, trying to regain control of his temper. He breathed in deeply and released it, clutching the railing of the balcony tightly. "I saw a chance to make a difference for a change and I took it. I won't apologize for that."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan voice had turned disapproving again. "You're acting like a child about this whole thing." Anakin clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything. "I've never told you not to help."

"No?" He turned, his anger flaring, "When my mother was being tortured for over a month, you told me to ignore my dreams because they would pass. But they didn't and she died."

He didn't say how every time he closed his eyes, he saw her body in his arms, heard her labored gasps. He didn't mention how good it had felt to release his rage through action, to hurt those who had taken her from him, or how ashamed it made him feel after the fact.

At this, at least, Obi-Wan looked down. Anakin could feel him through their bond, a deep ache that felt a little too much like guilt. "I'm sorry about your mother." He had the good sense to not ask why Anakin hadn't told him about her death before now. For that, he was glad. The whole thing was still too fresh in his mind.

They stood in silence for a long moment, before Obi-Wan broke it again.

"What exactly is going on between you and the Senator?" Anakin looked up at his master, ready to deny everything, when the other man spoke again. "And before you say nothing, you're at her apartment instead of the Temple. You're wearing Nubian garments, the kind that their nobility wears." Anakin glanced down at the soft fabric. He had forgotten he was wearing it. It had been a gift from Padmé to make him feel comfortable in the apartment. He hadn't exactly expecting Obi-Wan to just show up there in the middle of the day.

"I-" he hesitated, but something in the Force seemed to prod him forward, "Padmé and I are married."

Obi-Wan was silent. He really couldn't be too surprised about that. The other man was a Jedi through and through. He couldn't understand attachments.

"I see," he said, when he finally responded, and the was quiet again. Anakin shifted. He was feeling all of thirteen again after getting into fights with the other Initiates and Padawans. "If I hadn't come here today, would you have told me?"

Anakin studied the other man's face. He knew the answer Obi-Wan probably wanted, that yes he was going to tell him, but instead, he told him the truth. "No."

He knew almost the minute the word left his lips that it was the wrong thing to say. Now that he knew that though, his brain wasn't working well enough to figure out how to correct it. The hurt that had flashed over his master's face was gone as fast as it had appeared, hidden behind his negotiator's mask. It resonated over their bond and he could feel the sharp pain that accompanied it. The worse part was he didn't even feel bad about saying it. He felt free.

He had to fix this before it got too far. He shook his head. "We haven't told anyone." Anakin glanced away. He couldn't watch his master's face when as he said his next part. Whatever disappointment Obi-Wan felt at him revealing his marriage, it would be worse after this. "I plan to leave the Order after the war."

And there it was. Sharp, stinging, like a vibroblade had been shoved through his chest. He risked a glance at Obi-Wan, but his master wasn't looking at him. Perhaps couldn't look at him. Probably disillusioned by his failure of a padawan.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan's voice was pained when he finally spoke.

"I love her." And there was the base of the issue. He would have to leave the Order at some point because he was breaking the Code.

He knew what was said about him when he wasn't around. The others his age hated him. He was too powerful, was taken as a padawan too young, and shouldn't have even been accepted to the temple. His age mates told him when he was thirteen that there was something wrong with him, because no padawan was assigned to a master. A master choses their padawan. But Obi-Wan hadn't chosen him.

And that didn't even factor in the time he had overheard Obi-Wan tell Bant that he had only taken Anakin on because Master Qui-Gon had asked him to with his dying breathes. That only seemed to be proof positive of what his age mates had whispered to him between class periods and practice sessions.

 _So he'll be rid of me then_ , Anakin thought bitterly, _After ten years he can finally pick a padawan he actually wanted._

But then Obi-Wan's hand curled around his arm, the flesh and blood one, and squeezed comfortingly, pushing away the doubts.

"I know." He sighed. "And I understand, perhaps more than you think." Anakin looked up at him. _Obi-Wan? Perfect Obi-Wan?_ Anakin wondered. "There was a woman who if she had asked, I would have left the Order in a heartbeat. If she came to me today and asked, I still would."

"So why didn't you?"

"She never asked. And I fear I would only endanger her if I was to leave and pursue a relationship with her." Obi-Wan had enemies, yes, but not enough that Anakin would have though he'd be worried about endangering her. He didn't worry about putting Padmé in the line of fire, though perhaps that was more because she didn't need him to put herself there.

"Please don't tell the Council about us."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "They won't hear about it from me."

At this, the fear that had been clenching so tightly in his chest released and he breathed out deeply, giving Obi-Wan a grateful smile.

"Now, why I was looking for you in the first place," his master stated again, back to business as usual as if they hadn't just had a heartfelt conversation. "The Council has agreed to knight you. You'll be getting your own command."

"So they're splitting us up then?"

Obi-Wan laughed. "No, at least not for all missions. They've agreed that we're too good of a team to split up forever." He patted Anakin on the shoulder. "Why don't you put some actual clothes on and we'll head over?"

Anakin glanced back towards the couch through the glass. Boba's foot was no longer visible and he had the sneaking suspicious that the boy was spying on them.

He made a small gesture with his finger, pulling the curtain on the other side back. Sure enough, Boba was there, Jango Fett's helmet on. Just the day before, the kid had been showing off the speaker that amplified voices even through walls and windows and the rangefinder that could see targets several kilometers away. Anakin crossed his arms as he glared down at his son. The boy was smart enough to take the helmet off and head towards his room, hopefully to get dressed.

"We'll have to stop by the Senate first to drop him off with Padmé. I hate to think what he'll do if he's left to his own devices."

"Oh dear," Obi-Wan muttered, stroking his beard, "It's worse than I thought. You might actually be on the way to becoming a mature, responsible adult."

He glared at his master. "Very funny."

* * *

Don't know when the next part will be up.

Hope you enjoyed! R&R!


	4. Jareor Part 1

Jareor

To recklessly risk your life, foolish, not brave

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Anakin woke up in his bed in the Temple, in the apartment he shared with Obi-Wan. That in itself wasn't so strange, except when he considered the fact that he hadn't slept there in months. He had been on a ship or if he was on Coruscant, at Padmé's apartment. Waking up alone in a real bed was unnerving anymore. Never mind that, it was downright disorienting to wake up in the Temple.

There was a knock on the door before it opened and the light flooded in. Anakin groaned and covered his eyes with his arm. Obi-Wan chuckled from the doorway.

"Oh Anakin, what will I do with you?"

He peeked up at his master from under his arm.

"What time even is it?" He asked, looking at the older man.

"It's almost time for your knighting ceremony." A flash of irrational panic shot through him. It was really happening. Obi-Wan wouldn't be able to protect him anymore from the Council and their criticism. He would be on his own. The Council would tear him to threads. They hated him. If they ever found out what he had done, any of it…

As if sensing his line of thought, Obi-Wan frowned and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What's wrong, Anakin?"

"Nothing's wrong. Why would you think something is?"

He couldn't be a knight. He would make a terrible knight. And no padawan would ever want him as a master. Not a one. Most knights had spent time in the crèche as padawans, so the younglings wanted to be assigned to them. But he hadn't and he knew that the other padawans had and they would have talked.

If the other padawans knew what he had done, there wouldn't be a place in the galaxy he could go to get away from it.

His master frowned. "You're a terrible liar."

"I am not," he scoffed indignantly. "I'm an excellent liar."

"I'm so sure," his master drawled sarcastically. "So what exactly of nothing is wrong?"

Anakin kept silent as he sat up on the bed. If he was such a bad liar, he'd give himself away and that was the last thing he wanted to do. The last thing he could do. He'd be a criminal in the eyes of the Republic. He'd never be allowed to see his family again.

 _You can't trust Obi-Wan,_ a little voice whispered inside his head, _he'll go straight to the Council if you tell him._

Except that wasn't right. How could that be right? He had told Obi-Wan about him and Padmé and his master hadn't gone to the Council. He had gone AWOL to rescue Boba and Obi-Wan hadn't breathed a word of it to the Council. If he could trust Obi-Wan with that, couldn't he trust him with what happened with the Tuskens?

"You're not going to like it," he started with.

"I already don't like it. Whatever it is is eating you up inside. I can feel that much." Anakin winced. He hadn't realized just how much he had been projecting through their training bond. Obi-Wan sighed, moving closer to him. His hand rested on Anakin's shoulder. "Whatever it is, Padawan, you can tell me."

"It's about my mother's death."

Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. "The visions?"

Anakin shook his head. "No. After the visions." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Padmé insisted we go. I kept having the nightmares and she was worried. In them, the Tuskens were torturing my mother."

He felt his master stiffen. Obi-Wan already knew that part, but it still was hard to hear. He didn't say anything, so Anakin continued.

"When I found her, it was so much worse." He stifled a sob. "She was still alive. They tortured her for over a month and she lived through it. She died in my arms."

He heard Obi-Wan take in a sharp breath. But he couldn't face him. He had to finish telling him before the voice convinced him otherwise. Even now, it was whispering, asking him _what he was doing, didn't he know Obi-Wan would tell the Council. He would be expelled, arrested. Obi-Wan would turn Padmé and Boba against him._

Except why would he? He had been so used to listening to that voice, but since the day before, when Obi-Wan had promised to keep his family secret, he couldn't help but question it. Because if it had been wrong about that, it could be wrong about everything.

The voice had been the one to tell him to kill the sand people. _They deserve it. They're animals. You should slaughter them, just like animals. Do it._

Anakin felt sick.

Obi-Wan's hand slide from his shoulder, pulling him closer, holding him in a way he hadn't since Anakin had been a very small child.

"There's more," he said flatly, his voice a question and Anakin nodded, unable to speak.

"I killed them," he whispered horrified. "I couldn't help it. This voice in my head kept saying that they deserved it. That they were animals. And I knew it was wrong and I didn't care and-"

He cut off, his words unable to come out. He felt so consumed by his guilt now. When he had first done it, there had been no guilt. In fact, the voice had seem proud of him. _Good, Anakin._ When he had reached the Lars' homestead, a war had started in his mind.

He could feel Obi-Wan's disappointment, his grief. He closed his eyes against it and pulled away.

"I should tell the Council," Anakin said flatly, sitting up and reaching for his boots to tug on.

"No, Anakin," Obi-Wan said firmly. "You will not go turning yourself in. What will it change now?"

"I murdered an entire tribe of sentient beings. I deserve whatever the Council's going to do to me." For a change, he didn't add.

His master was staring at him with that sad, disappointed look in his eyes. He turned away and headed to the door.

"What good will it do, Anakin?"

That made him stop. Obi-Wan sounded tired, in pain. But there was something else in his voice, something he couldn't place.

And he was right. What good would it do? It wouldn't bring back the ones he had killed. It wouldn't bring back his mother.

"And what of Padmé and young Boba?" That was low and Obi-Wan had to know it. How could he turn his back so readily on his family?

He closed his eyes against his thoughts, trying to silence them. The voice, for once, was silent. Perhaps it agreed with Obi-Wan. Perhaps that was unacceptable to it. He left their apartment without a second look back.


	5. Jareor Part 2

Jareorc - Chapter 2

* * *

Anakin shifted from foot to foot as he stood outside the Council's doors. He didn't know what he was going to do, but figured he should trust the Force on this matter. If it came out of his mouth when he was in there, then they were supposed to know.

On the other hand, Obi-Wan was right. What good would it do if he gave himself up? What good would it do Padmé or Boba? He sighed.

Traditionally, padawans did not have their masters in during the ceremony, but they were accompanied to the outside of the Council's doors before it. But Obi-Wan was not there and it hurt.

 _See,_ the voice whispered, _he doesn't care about you._

The doors opened.

Anakin took a deep breath to center himself, then walked in.

It was not a full Council. Many of the members who had died at Geonosis had yet to be replaced. He had heard rumors that Obi-Wan was being considered, but he hadn't been sworn in yet.

The remaining masters were standing, lightsaber drawn.

He knelt before Master Yoda, remembering what Obi-Wan had told him to do last night, and bowed his head.

"Anakin Skywalker," Mace Windu's voice boomed and Anakin felt his chest tighten. "You faced your trials on Geonosis, where you followed your instincts as well as your orders. You walked a fine line and proved to this Council that you are ready to be knighted."

Only Mace Windu could simultaneously give him a compliment and a criticism in the same statement.

Yoda pulled his lightsaber and ignited it, lowering it over Anakin's right shoulder. "By the right of the Council," he moved it to the other shoulder, "by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi Knight of the Republic."

The blade hummed near his ear as it severed the braid from Anakin's hair. His head felt strangely naked without it.

"Rise, Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin reached for his braid off the floor and pocketed it before he bowed to the Council. "Thank you, Master," he said, as the tradition went.

He moved from the room. It was customary for a new knight to be greeted by his former master, but Obi-Wan wasn't there.

 _He's not proud of you. He doesn't think you're ready._

Anakin shuttered, trying to shut the voice out. He reached for their bond but found it strangely blocked. Since his master was no where to be found and he was still on leave, he left the Temple.

* * *

Anakin had only been in Padmé's office a handful of times, most of which had been on official business. But he had no real reason for being there, other than he wanted to see her.

"Padawan Skywalker!" a woman cried out in excitement. Teckla Minnau, Padmé's aide, stood up from behind her desk. She took in the sight of him lacking the braid. "Were you, I mean, are you a knight now?"

He smiled. "Yes. As of this morning."

She clapped her hands together. "How thrilling! Congratulations!" She smiled at him so warmly that he knew she meant it. "Are you here to see Senator Amidala?"

He bowed his head in acknowledgement. "I am."

She nodded and moved to the door that separated the offices. "Senator, Knight Skywalker is here to see you."

He heard his wife's gasp and he moved to meet her as Teckla deliberately ignored Padmé throwing her arms around him.

"Knight? Anakin, that's wonderful." She kissed him and when they broke apart, he laughed. He hadn't told her the day before when he had left Boba with her that was the reason they wanted him back at the Temple. Part of him hadn't believed it.

"What's the big deal?" a grumpy voice came from the corner. Boba was dressed in an outfit that told him Padmé's handmaidens had gotten to the boy. He appeared to be protesting his treatment by sitting with his legs hanging off the back of the chair and his head off the air.

"Sorry, kid," he told Boba, ruffling his son's hair. He received an upside-down glare and crossed arms that reminded him strangely of Obi-Wan.

"They said a beskar'gam wasn't proper clothing," he griped.

If Padmé wasn't there, he might of said something along the lines of 'It is on the battlefield.' But then Boba would want to come with him to war and his wife would be angry and then he'd have to explain why he had a ten-year-old who wasn't a padawan following him around.

Instead, he settled for a chuckle. But he sympathized with the kid. He really did.

His wife leaned her head against his shoulder. "I wish I had known you were coming. I would have cleared my schedule. We should really celebrate."

He kissed her again, softly this time. "All I really want is a quiet dinner with the two of you. I'm shipping out in the morning, with my own unit." Padmé shifted, as if a little uncomfortable. "What?"

"No Obi-Wan?"

He shook his head. "They need officers who can command their own units on the front. Why?"

She shrugged, but looked so sad that it made him feel the same. "I liked the idea of you fighting beside Obi-Wan. I knew he was always going to bring you home to me."

His chest tightened. He knew she was right. It was strange to think of himself heading into battle without his master watching his back. "I will do everything within my power to come home to the two of you." That made the corners of her lips lift slightly and he bent down to capture her lips again.

Boba made a gagging sound and he was rather tempted to smack the kid upside the head. The worst part was that he knew he had been just as bad when he was a child. How exactly his mother and Obi-Wan had dealt with him, he didn't know.

* * *

Dinner was a quiet affair that passed without anything notable occurring. The only thing that happened was that Padmé decided that they would see him off from the dock, since none of the Jedi planned to.

And so, bright and early at 0515, he, Padmé, and Boba gather on the port that the _Defiant_ was docked to take him up to his new flagship.

He kissed Padmé goodbye and he could see the effort it was taking her to keep the tears from her eyes. He held her tightly in his arms and prayed for the day the war was over so he never had to leave her.

He forced himself to drop his arms and she pulled away, kissing him one last time before she headed towards the speeder. Perhaps she thought he wouldn't go if she was too close. She might have been on to something.

He turned to Boba. He wasn't exactly sure how he said goodbye to someone that he had grown to love in less than a week of knowing them. Instead, Boba spot with his usual amount of tact.

"If you're going out to war and are possibly never returning, why isn't Obi-Wan here?" Boba asked. "You told me lots of stories about him. I thought the two of you were like brothers."

"We…" What could he say to explain? "We had a fight."

"A fight?" Boba crossed his arms, giving him a look that clearly said he wasn't buying it. "That kind of sounds like you screwed things up."

The kid was a little too preceptive. He'd almost suspect Force sensitivity, but common sense could be just as powerful. He had forgotten that, becoming too reliant on his abilities and not reliant enough on his brain.

"Yeah kid, you're on to something there," he said, ruffling Boba's hair.

Boba glared. "I'm not a kid. I'm ten."

He chuckled. "No, I guess not." He dropped down so he was eye level with him. "I guess that makes you the man of the house while I'm gone." He glanced back across the platform to where his wife was. "Take care of her."

The kid quirked the corner of his lip, but otherwise didn't reply. Apparently he didn't think the request deemed a response. He obviously would.

He stood and headed towards the _Defiant_. There were no clones on the ground, though wasn't entirely surprising. He hadn't actually been meant to report until 0530, but Padmé wanted to see him off.

"K'oyacyi!" Boba called after him. It sounded like an order, but for the life of him, he didn't know what it meant. Instead, he lifted a hand and waved goodbye.

Boba jumped in the speeder and it took off as a clone with armor that marked him as a captain disembarked and saluted.

"Sir, CT-7567 reporting, sir."

"At ease, Captain."

"Sir." The clone moved to walk beside him to the transport. "I have the mission briefing that was sent by General Windu."

Anakin nodded. "Thank you, Captain."

It was two days later, after their first battle where he took shrapnel to the ribs, that the Captain told him that his name was Rex. It was at that time he learned 6116- his medic's name was Kix and he was forbidden to ever go and pull a stunt like that again. As if he planned on being next to droids when they exploded in the future.

* * *

Beskar'gam - "iron skin" - Mandalorian armor

K'oyacyi - "Cheers!" Also "Hang in there" or "Come back safely."; lit. command: "Stay alive!" I figure Boba's using it as "Come back safely," but more likely in the literal sense.


	6. Jareor Part 3

Jareor - Chapter 3

* * *

Obi-Wan felt restless. He was shipping back out tomorrow and hadn't heard from Anakin in days. He hadn't heard anything about Anakin being arrested, but he figured if that was the case, the Council would have hushed it up. After all, a padawan going off the rails and murdering beings, that would be bad publicity.

His heart clenched at the thought. The Anakin he had known would have never run off to kill sentients so readily. Anakin valued life, more highly than the Council, he thought. It was so out of character. Even during the war he made a point to honor each clone lost under his command by name.

That he would go off and kill in anger was disturbing.

Yes, Anakin had always had a temper. He had known it from the first time he had lain eyes on the boy, had told his master as much. But his temper had always been rather in check. Quick, violent bursts before it subsided and he was apologetic. Like a sandstorm, the boy had explained once. He was the desert and his emotions were the sandstorms. He thought it was a rather good explanation, but one of the other masters had told Anakin that it signified an attachment to his past.

He had been rather disappointed to learn that Anakin had been shipped out. More so that Anakin hadn't told him. Though he hadn't exactly been available for him to do so, too afraid that if he was in contact, he'd hear that instead of being knighted, his padawan was dragged from the Council in binders.

He was still worried that his former padawan was forced to ship out, that he might have still been arrested and the Council had decided on a sort of work release program for him. After all, Anakin was becoming a rather well liked figure in the Republic. The young Jedi knight, good looking and talented, friends with the Supreme Chancellor. The Holonet loved Anakin and so did the general populace.

That was how he decided he would go to see Senator Amidala. He wasn't expecting young Boba Fett to be sitting in the outer office, looking bored out of his mind. Threepio was fussing over him. He almost looked like a proper young man, dressed in a pair of trousers and a shirt of obvious Nubian design and make. He was bent over the Senator's aide's desk, working intently on something.

"Hello there."

Boba looked up at him and blinked. "Hi."

"Is the Senator around?"

The boy shrugged. "She's in a session. She told me to stay here and do my on school work." He made a face.

Obi-Wan chuckled. He could see why Anakin liked the boy so much. There were definitely some similarities.

The boy shifted around in his chair so that he could face his guest properly.

"Anakin said you two had a fight and that kaysh mirsh solus." Obi-Wan made an amused sound. If not for the Duchess, the boy's comment might have been lost on him.

"That does not sound like something Anakin would say at all."

Boba shrugged, as if the fact Obi-Wan didn't believe him didn't bother him one bit. It made the Jedi smile.

Senator Amidala entered her outer office, followed by her retinue. When she saw him, she stopped short, and stared for a moment. He knew that Anakin must have told her, at least in part, about what had happened.

"Master Jedi, to what do I owe this visit?" she asked formally.

"Just some business, if you have a moment, Senator."

She bowed her head, then turned to her staff. "If you will excuse me." Then she led Obi-Wan into her office. Behind closed doors, her panic showed though. "Is Anakin okay?"

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know. I have seen or heard from him since the morning of his knighting." He didn't mention that he thought Anakin might have turned himself in for murdering the Sand People. He didn't know if she already knew and didn't want to cause any problems where there were none.

The Senator sank into her chair, looking very tired. "He said the two of you had a disagreement. That he told you about what happened on Tatooine." It seemed his fears were misplaced and she did already know.

It also meant she had spoken to him after the knighting ceremony. There was no small amount of relief he felt at that. After all, it meant that Anakin hadn't acted irrationally and turned himself in. But no one had talked about his former padawan in front of him in days, so he had worried.

"Yes." He took the seat across the from her desk. "I'm afraid that was ill judgement on my part. I should know better than try to convince Anakin to do or not to do anything." A small smile ghosted her lips. "How are you finding it? Being a mother?"

At this, a true smile broke over her face. "Boba has been wonderful. Challenging, of course, but he's very sweet. When he wants to be."

Obi-Wan laughed. Yes, just like Anakin at that age. Or at any age really. It seemed his former apprentice was getting a taste of his own medicine. He could really appreciate that. He remembered as a padawan hearing other masters wish on their students that were just as bad as their apprentices had been.

"I'm shipping out tomorrow," he told her. "I do believe the Council will be sending me to rendezvous with Anakin and the 501st. I'll watch out for him."

She looked up at him. "I wouldn't worry so much if I didn't know how reckless he was."

He had to smile at that because he knew exactly what she meant. Sitting in this room were perhaps the two people who loved Anakin most in all the galaxy and perhaps knew him the best. Although from young Boba's statement, he thought the child might know Anakin better than Anakin knew himself.

But he looked at her and she looked tired. All the stress of failed legislations for clone rights and against the war had to be eating at her. Dealing with that and a husband who was fighting in the same war and a child she had been unprepared for seemed to have aged her as much as it had made Anakin mature.

"Please take care of yourself, Padmé," he told the younger woman. "If you need anything, you can always comm me. Even if I'm not on world."

He would always take care of her and Boba. Anakin was his brother, his dearest friend. The least he could do for him was take care of his family.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan. I appreciate it."

He gave her a bow and exited her office.

"Behave for the Senator," he told the boy as he left the reception area.

Boba glanced up, amused. "Ret'!"

Obi-Wan chuckled. The child might not be related by blood, but he was definitely Anakin's.

* * *

Kaysh mirsh solus - "He's an idiot"; literally: "His brain cells are lonely."

Ret' - "Bye" or "See you." Short form of "Ret'urcye mhi" - Goodbye; literally: "Maybe we'll meet again"


	7. Tion'ad hukaat'kama? Part 1

Tion'ad hukaat'kama?

"Who's watching your back?"

* * *

Chapter 1

Anakin woke up in the medbay of the _Resolute_ , machines beeping too loudly and lights flickering much too brightly. The scent of bacta clung to his skin and he wrinkled his nose. For him, the smell reminded him too much of when he had gotten his prosthetic arm. The same arm that was suspiciously missing now.

He groaned. Everything was a little foggy. He had been awake before, had woken up minutes before they had plunged him into a bacta bath. He had learned his medic's name then. But that seemed like a lifetime ago.

He tried to shift in the bed, but his side felt like it had been set on fire. From the way his chest was uncovered all but the large bandage, he figure that had to be pretty close to the truth. Instantly, Kix was fussing over him, hand on his shoulder to hold him steady while he held the largest needle Anakin had ever seen attached to a syringe.

"Vaabir gar ganar jaro?" Kix spat.

He flinched as the other man brought the needle close. The medic sighed.

"Just relax, General. This is just something to help with the infection."

He winced as the needle broke his skin, feeling like it was pinching the muscle in his arm. It took everything in him to not shift away, knowing from past experience it would only make it hurt worse. He knew it was all in his mind, but he couldn't help seeing _needle_ and thinking _tracker_.

"How bad was it?" The fact that he still needed medicine to treat an infection that the bacta hadn't gotten rid of spoke to how bad it had been.

Kix bowed his head. "Sir, with all due respect, sir, but it was bad enough that if you ever do that again, I'm going to recommend you for planetside leave with mandatory mind healing sessions. Indefinitely."

Anakin grimaced. He definitely was not suicidal, at least he liked to think he wasn't. But his medic clearly thought otherwise, so it must have been worse than what he had thought.

He thought back to it. It was still fuzzy, but his mind was trying to work through it.

"I didn't exactly plan to be right next to that tank when it exploded." The look on Kix's face told him the other man didn't believe him.

And part of him didn't either.

Still, the medic left, so that told him that the clones hadn't placed him on suicide watch. Either they figured that he hadn't tried to kill himself on purpose or that wouldn't be able to stop him if he was going to try again.

As the meds started to kick in, he closed his eyes, trying to meditate back on what had happened to sort everything straight in his mind.

He had been leading the clones into battle. A ground assault. It seemed pretty pointless after a while. There was wave after wave of droids, an endless sea of them. They were using a new kind of tank, one that wasn't easy to destroy. He had managed to get on board and sabotage the engine when the voice is his head had started talking.

 _Why are you fighting so hard for them?_ _No one would care if you were gone._

 _No one. Not Padmé, not Obi-Wan._

 _Padmé is saddled with a husband she's ashamed of. That's the real reason your relationship has to be kept secret._

 _Obi-Wan is stuck with the stain on his record within the Order. You're just a nuisance to him._

 _The rest of the Order would definitely be relieved to be rid of you. You're too much of a wild card. The Order doesn't like wild cards._

 _You should just stay here. You've always liked droids. They've always liked you. They'd appreciate you much more than the clones do._

He bit his tongue as the too fresh memory resurfaced. He knew that voice of his self-doubt and inner loathing too well now. He knew he shouldn't listen to it. Sometimes, it seemed like it had taken on a life of its own. Sometimes its words made no sense; sometimes it made too much sense. But for a few moments, listening to it had almost seemed like a good idea. Clearly, it wasn't the brightest thing he had ever done.

He knew exactly how close he had gotten. It was only when he remembered Boba and Padme's faces during his last leave that the haze started to clear and he had started to move away. But at that point, it had been too late. He had already set the charge when the voice had begun talking, so the countdown had been next to done before he came back to his senses.

Rex had been beyond angry. Kix had chewed him out as they brought him back aboard the ship, barely conscious. But the familiar jaig eyes helmet was sitting at the table at the end of the bed, which meant Rex wasn't too far. He wasn't too angry.

Kix was right about the mind healer. He needed to talk to someone about this. It was a little ridiculous that any time he started to feel balanced, the voice would start whispering all sort of doubts in ear. Self-sabotage at its worst.

Maybe he should talk to Obi-Wan about it. He already knew about his family, so no risk of an outsider spilling the secret. He knew about what had happened with the Tuskens and had seemed more upset that Anakin was going to turn himself in than what he had done.

 _How could you talk to Obi-Wan? He doesn't want you around anymore. He didn't even show up at your knighting ceremony. He couldn't wait to be rid of you._

Anakin concentrated hard on shutting the voice up. It was too loud, too all consuming.

To his amazement, the voice stopped and the room seemed strangely silent without it. A loud buzzing in his ears took over instead, with the worst headache he had ever experienced. It was like someone was repeatedly stabbing a vibroblade into his skull. He opened his eyes to see if Kix was there still. The meds had screwed with his Force perception and his vision and equilibrium, or the room really was spinning and darkening at the same time.

He tried to call out for help, for Kix or Rex or anyone. But it felt like he had swallowed his tongue and his limbs felt so heavy. He could only remember feeling like that once before, when he had been very little and they hadn't had access to good meds, only ones that made him sicker.

At least his mom had been with him for that. She wasn't here now and he was going to be alone when he couldn't breath anymore, when his throat closed up completely. It never occurred to him that Kix might give him a general antibacterial medication, had thought for sure it would have been in his file from the Order. After all, they had done so many tests on him when he had arrived there.

For some reason, he couldn't stop wondering if Padmé knew of any good mind healers before everything else went blissfully blank.

* * *

Anakin woke up in a medical bed. His first thought was instant panic, because he had done this already. Hadn't he? But he couldn't hear the ship's engines or feel the gentle motion he always felt moving through space.

A tube was over his face, over his nose, pushing clean oxygen into them. He breathed in deeply, happy to feel his throat and lungs working properly again. He was back in the Temple and they had hooked him up on a drip that went into his arm. His mechanical arm had been replaced. Whatever medicine was in it was the better kind, the kind that didn't make him sick and didn't make the pain worse.

Obi-Wan was sleeping in a chair across from the bed. His neck and head were at an odd angle. He didn't look like he had slept long, so he didn't want to wake his former master, especially considering the sore note they had left things on.

Anakin took advantage of the quiet to take account of how he felt. He didn't feel the heaviness in his chest when he breathed, nor did he feel like he was frozen. And his time, when he reached for the Force, it was there, readily available.

Obi-Wan made a sad noise, like a wounded animal. Taking pity on him, Anakin reached out and gave him a small mental tap. The other man sat up startled. You could take the soldier from the battlefield, but it didn't seem to make a difference.

"Anakin," he breathed and his voice sounded so relieved and terrified that Anakin couldn't help but think smugly at the voice: _See. He does care._

Obi-Wan wiped his face, straightening up.

"Stars, Anakin! What were you thinking?"

He grimaced. He was hoping he'd conveniently forget about that… somehow. He gave him an awkward grin, which only served to make Obi-Wan glare at him.

"I wasn't," he admitted.

Then he preceded to tell Obi-Wan about the voice. A look of horror grew on his former master's face. The more he said to the other man, the more the voice fought him, told him he was making a mistake in trusting the other man, that he was being stupid.

"Oh Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed when he finished, reaching for him. "I don't think it's your subconscious."

He blinked. Of all the responses he anticipated , he never expected that.

"Then what is it?" Him being crazy, he could have dealt with. Everyone was a little crazy from the war.

"I think someone might be influencing your mind."

"To what end?" He was ashamed of the hysterical edge his voice had taken.

Obi-Wan gave him a fond smile, a little bit sad and a little bit amused. "You know very well you are more powerful than anyone at the Temple."

He shook his head, denying it. Midichlorians aside, he could never beat Obi-Wan or Master Yoda in a fight. And Dooku had handed him his ass every time they had fought. So he couldn't possibly be more powerful.

The words that came out of Obi-Wan's mouth were painful, held a shock he didn't want, had been denying, but had secretly wounded in the depths of his mind. "I think perhaps the Sith Master has been trying to influence you, so you would be susceptible to turn and be his new apprentice."

He didn't want to hear it, but forced himself to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't help anything, though that was about all he wanted to do.

"How could that be possible?" he asked Obi-Wan and was proud when his voice didn't shake nearly as much as he felt like it should. A Sith Lord has in his mind. A Sith Lord whispering things to him, actions that he had listened to. He felt absolutely sick. With very little warning, he turned and reached for the sick bowl beside the bed and threw up what little was in his stomach. He barely had time to move the oxygen tube from his face before it happened, but the drip was still in his arm tugging painfully. His ribs felt like they were on fire again and that only made everything worse.

Obi-Wan's hand was on his back, like he was a child again. And really, had he ever gotten to be one? If the voice truly was the Sith Master's and Obi-Wan's theory of the Sith trying to turn him was right, they had been trying since the day he had set foot on Coruscant. At nine-years-old, homesick, scared, and lonely, how could he have known as to what such a voice was?

When he lifted his face from the bowl that his friend pulled from under him, he was crying.

"Shh, it's okay," the other man offered, holding him like he had when he had first come to the Temple.

"How can you say that?" he asked, only slightly hysterically. "If you're right, then he's had his eyes on me since the day I was brought here, before I even was accepted in the Temple."

Obi-Wan looked greened at the idea that he had been exposed to it so young.

"We should have..." his old master cut off, and Anakin couldn't help but wonder just what it was they should have done.

* * *

Kix was shamefaced for making such a critical medical error when he and Rex visited while he was waiting for Obi-Wan to return.

"General, I am extremely sorry. I can guarantee an error of this magnitude won't happen again in the future."

He chuckled and Kix looked horrified.

"It never occurred to me that the Jedi hadn't given you my medical file."

"I'm afraid it never occurred to me, sir." No, it wouldn't have. Clone physiology was identical across the board. Boba could receive the same treatment as Rex and be perfectly fine. But the clones hadn't been trained to treat injuries for anyone who wasn't one of them. It made no sense to him, since the few Jedi medics were stretched so thin. There weren't enough medics to cover the entire army.

He had always had an allergy to something in the general antibacterials. His mother had always had a similar reaction, had always taken care to not give them meds that would do more harm than good. But with such limited resources, sometimes it couldn't be helped.

He had always thought himself lucky though. When he had been a child, he had a friend, Nylalita, who had gotten cut on some scraps. Her master hadn't wanted to waste the cost of bandages on her. Anakin had smuggled some to her, but she had needed proper medical care. She had bleed and bleed until she had collapsed and never woke up. He had been so angry that day. It would have cost her master next to nothing to get her treatment, but cost her life to not.

But his master found it more profitable to have his slaves in working order, much to their benefit.

"I'm okay, Kix. You couldn't have known."

"Still, General, it shouldn't have happened."

Rex snorted. "Here he was ranting about you being suicidal and he nearly helps you off yourself." He paused, then tacked on, "Sir."

Anakin couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

* * *

Later that day, Obi-Wan marched back in, looking more determined than he had when he had left.

"I've gotten some leave time for you to recover on Coruscant."

Anakin frowned. "You told the Council then?" If the Council knew, he would be expelled or jailed or worse. He had been listening to a Sith Lord for the last decade and following what they had been saying. Didn't that make him an apprentice or something? But he didn't feel dark, not like he had when he had killed the Tuskens.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I only told them that you got injured and then poisoned and that your medic had recommended that you have some time off, because you nearly got yourself blown up. As soon as you're released, we'll work on undoing the Sith's hold on your mind."

He nodded.

"Get some rest, padawan," the older man said fondly, ruffling his hair. Anakin tried to dodge it, but as bad as he was feeling, he could hardly move. Staying in the Temple wouldn't be so bad and maybe soon he could see Padmé and Boba.

* * *

It was late in the third day before he was released from the Healer's wing, but was warned to not leave the Temple, to return to his and Obi-Wan's shared apartments and stay there.

So of course he was surprised when his master arrived with the controls to a speeder in his hand and a robe for him to wear.

"I thought you might be more comfortable here," he offered when they landed at 500 Republica.

Anakin smiled at the older man. "Thank you."

He nodded. "I'll be back tomorrow. We can work on figuring everything out then."

Anakin nodded and Obi-Wan turned back towards the speeder. He watched as the other man departed as Padmé stepped out onto the veranda.

"You're home," she sighed, eyes shining with shed tears. "When Obi-Wan told me what happened…" she cut herself off, overcome for a moment. "I was so worried."

"I'm sorry," he whispered, embracing his wife. He savored the moment. It wasn't all that long since he'd been out in the field, but who knew when he'd get to see her again. It figured that Obi-Wan would have told her what happened.

"Come on. Let's go inside."

Boba was sitting on the couch. He was pretending to work on school work, but was actually watching them. When they entered, he muttered dryly, "Su cuy'gar."

Anakin raised a brow at his son. He definitely needed to learn Mandalorian, but he was prioritizing it for after he got the Sith Lord out of his head.

"Hello to you too," he said back, ruffling the kid's hair. Boba glared at him.

"You made Padmé worried. Mir'osik."

"Boba!" Padmé scolded. He cast a glance at his wife. "It's a curse word. I can't remember which one though. He uses so many. I think it's like idiot, but stronger," she translated.

"Ah." He shrugged. "He's not entirely wrong." He nudged the boy's feet of the couch, sitting down on the end of it. Boba glared harder and moved, his face a mask of nothing but anger.

"Kaysh mirsh solus," he muttered to Padmé, but from the looks the kid kept giving him, he was clearly talking about him. "Di'kut."

"That one I recognize," Anakin muttered to his wife. "Kix said it enough times at me that for a while I was thinking that was my name." He gave Boba a small smile. "But it's not."

"Nar'sheb."

Padmé rubbed her temples, clearly trying to fight the headache. Being a single parent had to be hard on her.

"Go to your room for a bit. There's something I want to talk to Padmé about."

Boba wasn't thrilled and he made that clear by making a production of gathering his data pads and marching towards his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Oh my, how rude!" Threepio exclaimed as he entered the room. "Mistress Padmé, is there anything I might get for you? Master Anakin! You're home. How delightful!"

He smiled slightly. "We're fine, Threepio," his wife answered. "Thank you."

The droid let out a loud mechanical huff and turned back towards the kitchen, muttering all the way.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently, but he knew she meant what was wrong beside him injuries. He sighed and started to explain. He watched her go wide eyed and pale and when he finished, she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "And don't you dare try to tell me it's alright," she spat as he lifted his hand to stroke her hair.

But he didn't open his mouth to try to tell her everything was fine. He had promised he wouldn't lie to her and it was a promise he wanted to keep.

* * *

Later, after he had gotten his wife to calm down, Anakin headed into Boba's room. He seemed to have something against sitting on furniture like a normal being and instead was laying on the bed with his feet on the wall.

Boba didn't bother to acknowledge his presence, so he knocked, but the kid was doing an admirable job of staring at his data pad. Apparently, they had reached the stage where he was actively ignored him then.

"Boba," he said, softly, gently, like Obi-Wan used to when he had been particularly stubborn.

The boy didn't so much as look in his direction. He sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry for worrying you."

Nothing. Not even a glare. Stars, how had Obi-Wan made dealing with him as a child look so easy?

"I know it's hard, but you can't go around expressing your feelings in a string of curses and nothing else."

Boba glared, but otherwise didn't speak. That was progress at least.

"When I first got here, I was terrified all the time. After the awe of the planet wore off, all I could do was count the days until I was knighted so I could go home and free my mother. I shut people out and was not a very pleasant person to be around most of the time."

"I'm not unpleasant to be around," Boba muttered angrily, "Just ask Teckla."

Anakin chuckled. "Is that why you won't look at me except to glare?"

Boba glared again, only proving his point. "You said you'd come back safely. You promised."

He couldn't actually remember ever saying something like that. He knew better to promise such a thing during a war. But Boba clearly thought he had, so something must have been said during their goodbyes.

 _"K'oyacyi,"_ Boba had called and he had waved in return. Whatever that was, he must have taken it as a promise that he'd return in one piece. Which he mostly was.

"I'm a soldier, Boba. I can hardly promise that."

"Ogir nuarra acyk verd bal jareor," Boba spat back. "And you were being jareor."

Jareor. Kix had used a version of the word, jaro at him. Rex had used the actual word once, spat it at him with such vehemence. Rex never spoke a word against his officers, so he knew that the other man had been angry. He had immediately clammed up after that, until Anakin had ordered that he tell him what it meant. Suicidal.

He pulled his son close to him, running his fingers through the silky hair. The boy struggled at first, but soon settled against him. "I'm not suicidal, Boba," he reassured the boy. "I'm going to always do my best to come back to you and Padmé, but I'm never going to ask my men to do something that I wouldn't do myself. But I'm not suicidal."

The boy sniffled slightly. "You can't die too," Boba muttered, his hands gripping his tunic.

Anakin closed his eyes, trying to not think about how much of an idiot he had been. Of course Boba had been worried. It was the same way he had felt as a child when his mother would get sent to do dangerous things for Watto, including the time he sent her to trade with the Jawas for some parts and he had been left on his own in the city for nearly a week. He had been so cruel to her when she had returned, but only because he had been so terrified he would never see her again.

He kissed the crown of his son's head and held him tight, not letting go until Padmé fetched them for dinner.

* * *

Translations

Vaabir gar ganar jaro? - Do you have a death wish?

Su cuy'gar! - "Hello!"; literally: "So you're still alive."

Mir'osik - something undesirable where your brains ought to be, i.e. "Shit for brains"

Kaysh mirsh solus - "He's an idiot"; literally: "His brain cells are lonely.

Di'kut - idiot, useless - lit. Someone who forgets to put their pants on

Nar'sheb - shove it, but stronger

Jareor - recklessly risk your life, act suicidally, foolish, not brave

Jaro - death wish, insane act of reckless stupidity

Ogir nuarra acyk verd bal jareor - There's a difference between being a soldier and being suicidal


	8. Tion'ad hukaat'kama? Part 2

Tion'ad hukaat'kama?

* * *

Chapter 2 -

Obi-Wan showed up bright and early the next day. Anakin had barely slept, tossing and turning most of the night. He had already downed to cups of caf before he had even started on breakfast. Padmé was slowly sipping a cup of caf, the extra strong stuff that she drank out of the tiny fragile cups, delicately painted with elaborate designs, while he and Boba were eating panna cakes. Dormé showed him in and he bowed to his wife.

"I beg your pardon, my Lady," Obi-Wan said charmingly to Padmé. Jealousy stirred in his gut, but he fought it back because it made no sense. Neither his master nor his wife like each other like that. "I was hoping we might use one of your rooms. Anakin filled you in, I assume."

"Yes, of course. You can use my study."

His master nodded. Anakin stood, kissing his wife and ignoring Boba's protests. He ruffled the kid's hair as he passed him, leading the other man towards the room off the dining room. He closed the doors behind them and locked them to ensure his son wouldn't try to spy on them.

"Shall we begin?"

Anakin nodded. Obi-Wan sat on the floor and Anakin mimicked his motions, sitting crosslegged from him like he was a small child. Obi-Wan offered his hands and he took them in his. He wasn't entirely sure how this would go, but Obi-Wan had seemed confident that he could guide Anakin to undo a Force Bond within his own mind.

"What we're going to do is mediate," his master spoke, "Focus on the darkness and the source of that darkness until you find where the bond starts. You know what our bond feels like. It might feel similar, but much darker."

Anakin swallowed hard, closing his eyes and focusing. He could feel his bond with Obi-Wan, warm and bright, but clouded slightly, like something or someone didn't want them too connected. The bonds he shared with Padmé and Boba were there as well, but being that they weren't Force sensitive, they weren't as strong.

And there, like a gapping hole farther back, hidden beneath the lesser bonds he shared with various Jedi, old training bonds and such, was something so cold and dark that he almost had to pull himself out to get a blanket. It felt like Obi-Wan's bond; his master was right about that. The power behind it made him ill.

He felt Obi-Wan enter his mind and he pulled back slightly, leading the other man to where the dark bond was.

 _"It'll hurt when the bond snaps,"_ Obi-Wan warned mentally.

He nodded. That made sense. To forcibly break a bond, it would have to be. It wasn't like they were mutually severing a training bond.

Still, he wasn't prepared for the pain he felt tear through him. It compared to nothing he had ever felt before. Like fire ripping into his skin, like poison in his blood, claws in his brain. The first wave hit him physically, knocking him back. The Sith was fighting to stay in his mind at all costs.

The next wave would have been less painful if Obi-Wan had simply stuck his hand in his chest and ignited his lightsaber. It felt like his organs were liquifying, the air was smoke and ash. Acid clung to his skin and energy seared his face.

He shrieked until his throat was raw. He didn't know if it was just in his head or if it was out loud. All he knew was it hurt to scream, but it hurt worse to stop.

And then suddenly he felt very light. It was almost peaceful, warm and bright.

The woman's hand touching his face was rough, calloused but familiar. He closed his eyes to preserve the feeling.

 _"Ani,"_ she murmured softly, " _Ani_." He opened his eyes.

There was no blood. She wasn't in pain. She was whole again. Glowing softly, she look ethereal, less human than she had in life.

"Mom?" he whispered, tears in his eyes. She had died in his arms. She couldn't be here.

Still, Shmi Skywalker reached out to him and pulled him into her arms. She felt real as she held him.

 _"I'm so proud of you, Ani."_

"How?" he asked, voice cracking. "I keep messing up. I let a Sith Lord into my head. I've listened to what he's said. I should have stayed with you on Tatooine. You'd be alive and I wouldn't have done-"

" _Shh Ani. You need to forgive yourself for the things you've done and let go. Nothing good will come from dwelling on the past, you know that."_

"I keep failing you."

" _You've never failed me."_ She stroked the hair from his face. _"I have to go. Things are changing. You've changed them."_

"Things? What things?"

She smiled fondly at him, but didn't answer. She only pressed her lips to his forehead.

 _"I love you, my son."_ She gently pressed him back, so that he was back where he started. " _Now wake up, Ani."_

* * *

"It was worse than I thought," Obi-Wan muttered as he pulled back from Anakin's mind. Padmé swallowed hard. She didn't like the sound of that.

She had come in the room when she had heard her husband screaming in excruciating pain. Boba had been on her heals into the room, but both had stopped when they saw Anakin unconscious on the ground, blood on his face from his nose.

"Worse how?"

Obi-Wan didn't immediately answer, which made her imagine it was worse. "There was a Force bond between him and the Sith Lord. One that has possibly existed longer than Anakin and I's bond."

She felt like the floor had been pulled from under her, like the room was spinning around her and she in an opposite direction. Her mouth felt dry. "What? How is that even possible?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't really know."

They were quiet for a long while, then the three of them and Dormé helped move her husband into their bedroom. He hadn't woken up. She was worried. Obi-Wan was not. She didn't know if that made it better or worse.

"He's going to be fine," Boba said, more to himself than her as he joined her on the couch. Obi-Wan had gone to mediate in the bedroom to keep an eye on Anakin. According to him, Anakin would be extremely vulnerable at this time. If the Sith Lord felt the bond break, he might be in danger.

But she didn't want to think about that, so she had sat down on the couch and had thrown on a mindless holodrama when she really should have been working on the Clone's Rights Bill that was being proposed, the one that didn't give the clones any rights besides acknowledging they were living, breathing beings. But even that was a fight. In the eyes of the law, her son was not a person and she hated that.

"Of course he's going to be fine," she replied mindlessly, reaching for the boy to stroke his hair.

But she lost track of time waiting for him to wake up and prove he was fine.

* * *

Anakin jerked upright in his own bed in his wife's apartment. The events of the past week could have been a nightmare, if not for the aching headache, the general bad feeling he had, and his master sitting in the chair opposite the bed.

Obi-Wan's eyes blinked opened and he looked at him, face full of concern.

"How do you feel?"

He wouldn't say fine. He wasn't fine, was as far from fine as one could get. He felt like he'd been hit over the head, like someone had been tearing at his soul. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Then there was the little fact that he had been in the office when he'd started mediating and was waking up in his bed instead.

"Better."

And he did feel better. He felt almost peaceful now.

"So it worked?" He asked Obi-Wan.

"Yes," his master said, but he noted that the man looked pale and drawn.

"What is it?" Obi-Wan shook his head. He seemed upset, afraid even. "Please tell me."

The other man let out a long sigh. "The bond you had with the Sith Lord was perhaps older than your bond with me." Anakin paled at the implications of that. "It was strong though, as if it was with someone on Coruscant. Someone you've been in contact with this entire time."

Anakin shook his head. "That a really short list of people. You, Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Mundi, and the Chancellor. And I don't like the possibility of any of them being Sith Lords."

"Don't forget Jar-Jar Binks. I know he kept in contact with you through you padawancy," he said dryly. Obi-Wan sighed. "No, that's definitely not a comforting list." He pinched his nose. "There's no chance you're forgetting anyone?"

Anakin shook his head again. "I've been racking my brain for days. That's everyone I've met since coming to Coruscant that I've kept in touch with." He gave his master a smile. "But I know I can eliminate you from that list."

"Thank you ever so much." His former master closed his eyes, but he didn't look any more at peace from his answers. "Perhaps we'll never know then."

"No." His clenched his jaw, unhappy with what he was going to say next. "We can find them. We will find them."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I won't put you at risk like that. They were in your head for ten years. We need to firm up your shields so they can't get back in."

Anakin sighed. He knew Obi-Wan was right, but he hated this. He hated that he was treating him like a child.

As if knowing where his mind was going, Obi-Wan reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it.

"I'm not saying this because I'm doubting your abilities. I'm saying this because I don't know what I would do if I lost you. That bond put your life at risk, as you so clearly pointed out to me the other day. Now you want to actively hunt a Sith Lord."

He wasn't proud of the fact that it took him a few moments to realize the family Obi-Wan was talking about wasn't the Order, but rather him. He glanced up at the other man and squeezed the hand that was on his shoulder in his.

"I hope it's Master Windu," he grumbled as he stood up from the bed, "He's never liked me."

"Then I very much doubt he'd make you his apprentice if he was the Sith Lord," Obi-Wan replied dryly.

* * *

"So is it gone?" Padmé asked anxiously when they exited the bedroom.

"It's gone," Anakin soothed her, kissing her cheek and stroking her back. "He won't be able to get to me again, whoever he was."

"I thought no one was supposed to get in a Jedi's mind," Boba spoke from where he was dangling over the back of the couch. "Not if they didn't want them there."

Anakin crossed his arms as he faced the boy. "Yes, but I was very young when the Sith got into mine, so he was under my shields already when I grew up."

Boba made a sound. "Is that why you were bleeding and screaming like a Kaminoan shriek-whale?"

"I was not," he started defensively, before he glanced at Padmé and Obi-Wan, "Was I?"

"Oh no, much more like a manly holler," his master spoke evenly, a slight smile on his face. He was glad at least one of them were enjoying themselves.

Padmé shook her head. "Well, I say we eat some dinner, since you were out for most of the day."

They all nodded their heads in agreement. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt like he had an appetite and there was nothing floating around that shouldn't been, no stray thoughts sabotaging his relationships.

For the first time in a long time, as his family gathered around the dinner table, he was happy.


	9. Tion'ad hukaat'kama? Part 3

Tion'ad hukaat'kama?

* * *

Chapter 3 - Epilogue

"I've been thinking of taking on a new padawan," he told Master Yoda as they watched the Initiates practicing together. "I was talking to Anakin about it before he left. He's settling into being a knight and I think it's time."

Anakin had gone ahead to Christophosis to aid Senator Organa and the relief effort there. He would be following as soon as the new stealth ship was finished.

He was using the word 'talking' very loosely. Their conversation went more along the lines of he had been bouncing the idea off Anakin while they had been with Boba. His former padawan had laughed, finding the whole idea of 'bringing a youngling to battle' amusing. Boba had asked if he'd take him on as a padawan, obviously enamored at the idea of getting brought into battle, if for no other reason than to watch over Anakin.

"Hmm. A blessing our padawans are. Teach us much about ourselves, they do." But he didn't offer any more than that. "Different, young Skywalker has been," Yoda said instead. "Changed, something has."

"I'm not entirely sure what you mean, master," Obi-Wan lied. Yoda narrowed his eyes, but otherwise didn't say anything.

He did, in fact, know what Yoda was referring to. Anakin was happier, lighter, settled. He finally seemed like a Jedi.

"Grown up, he has."

"Perhaps some." Or a lot. Being a father had been good for his padawan, even if it was in secret.

"A padawan, he needs." Obi-Wan opened his mouth to tell the diminutive master that the last thing Anakin needed was another life to be responsible for when he stopped. He saw how his former student acted around his son. Perhaps a life he was responsible for on the battlefield was exactly what he needed.

"And I suppose you have someone in mind."

Yoda shifted on his cane, looking as innocent as a youngling caught in the Temple's kitchens after hours. "Think on it, I will." The old master looked up at him coyly.

Obi-Wan wanted to laugh. The older Jedi liked to meddle, just as he had for him and Qui-Gon.

"In the meantime, how about you think about a padawan for me and send them on to join me. Maybe you'll have found someone for Anakin by that point, and can send them along together."

A hard smack on his shins was followed by a "hmph." "Impertinent your master raised you."

Obi-Wan laughed and tried to dodge the cane again. The last thing he wanted was to return to the battle field with bruised shins.

His comm beeped with the message that the stealth ship was ready. He bowed and headed off. It was time to rejoin his former padawan.

* * *

Two weeks of battle later, weary and ready for the fight to be over, Obi-Wan had forgotten about most of the conversation with Master Yoda. Though the Togruta girl showed some promise, he didn't see how the two of them could make a very good team. Never had Master Yoda's judgement seemed so far off.

Still, he would attempt to make this work. He wasn't nearly as resistant as his master had been.

"My apologies, young one. Time for a proper introduction."

"I'm the new padawan learner," the girl spoke softly, but clearly, "I'm Ahsoka Tano."

"I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, your new master."

"I'm at your service, Master Kenobi." He got a sinking feeling in his gut at the confused tone she used. "But I'm afraid I've actually been assigned to Master Skywalker." As if there was any question who she was talking about, she pointed at Anakin.

Master Yoda had been meddling then.

Anakin began reacting exactly how he would expect. He shook his head and moved behind him, like he would be a shield for his former padawan against _his_ new padawan. For a father, he wasn't nearly as mature as one would hope and Boba only seemed to take his bad influence in stride.

"What? No, no, no, no. There must be some mistake." He thrust his finger accusingly in his direction, "He's the one who wanted the padawan."

"No," the girl spoke and Obi-Wan had to fight to hold in the laugh. And Master Yoda called him impertinent. "Master Yoda was very specific. I'm assigned to Anakin Skywalker and he's to supervise my Jedi training."

Anakin sputtered, "But that doesn't make any sense."

Obi-Wan sighed. "We'll have to sort this all out later. It won't be long before those droids figure out a way around our canons."

"I'll check on Rex in the lookout post." Anakin all but turned and ran from the conversation.

"Best take her with you."

He could feel the brooding from his former padawan as he stopped, nowhere near as dark or heavy as it would have been a week before. He was sure he was rolling his eyes. Ahsoka seemed oblivious to Anakin's annoyance and followed.

He couldn't help the smile that broke across his face as Anakin waited for the girl to catch up, as he watched him nudge her towards the lifts to the lookout post. He caught the small smirk on Anakin's face that disappeared as he turned, raised an eye at the man. Obi-Wan laughed as the girl impatiently tugged Anakin towards the lifts.

Master Yoda had known exactly what he was doing.


End file.
